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The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, which aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on November 1, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll turn now to Republican Congressman Mike Lawler. He arrives today from New York. You are in this home stretch of campaign in one of the most closely watched districts this cycle. Leader Jeffries singled out your district as a top target for Democrats. Where do you see this going?
REP. MIKE LAWLER: Well, I think we’re going to win on Tuesday night, Margaret. I’ve done the job, in the last four years, between my staff and me, we’ve closed over 10,000 constitutional cases, brought over $140 million back to the district, passed over two dozen bills, 17 of which were signed into law. Ask the AOC how much she signed into law. The fact is, I show up, and my voters know me. And unlike my opponent, who parachuted into this district from Virginia, I have a home here. I pay taxes. I am raising my family here. And I think my constituents respect the fact that I’m consistently rated among the most bipartisan and effective members of Congress. I am the only sitting member of the Congress who is supported by a member of the opposition party. Jared Golden signed my re-election just a little over a month ago, and I think people know that I have delivered for them, especially when it comes to the issue of affordability, delivering the largest tax cut in American history, including lifting the salt and driving the housing bill, which will increase supply and lower prices.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, as you mentioned just now, affordability is a major issue for voters, no matter what party they’re in. We see the economy growing. We still see consumers spending, but for the last six months we see wages not keeping up with inflation. Republicans pushed for lower prices. Why do you deserve re-election? Why does the party deserve trust if the prices only continue to rise?
REP. LAWLER: Well, as we saw under the previous administration, inflation was up 21% cumulatively. So the base price of everything went up. Of course, with the war in the Middle East, it caused volatility in the oil markets, which led to a spike in inflation. But as you just indicated, we saw significant growth in Q3, 3.4%. Over a million private sector jobs have been created in the past year. We see purchasing power increasing, but there is still work to be done. And so I focused a lot on what we can do to lower prices. Number one, we delivered the biggest tax cut. Number two, we passed the largest housing bill in 36 years to increase supply and bring down prices and increase access to capital. Before the end of this Congress –
MARGARET BRENNAN: The president doesn’t like this bill.
REP. LAWLER: –we will finalize a permit- before the end of Congress, this Congress, we will finalize a permit reform bill that will increase the domestic supply of energy, which will directly affect the prices of everything from manufacturing to transportation to the grocery store. And one of the problems in New York, Margaret, utilities are up 58% under Kathy Hochul because they’re shutting down nuclear power, they’re banning natural gas, they’re blocking pipelines. We are working to correct that. That will significantly lower energy prices, which is critical if we are to lower inflation and lower costs.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Health care is one of the top three issues for voters. You are one of the Republicans who tried to secure a short-term extension of those Obamacare subsidies that expired at the end of the year. In this cycle, many Democrats promise that if they win the majority, they will restore some of the past subsidies. Do you support this? Would you work with Democrats to do that?
REP. LAWLER: Oh, absolutely. Look, I’ve consistently been rated among the most bipartisan members of Congress. My best friend in Congress is a Democrat, Josh Gottheimer. We led this effort to negotiate a bipartisan extension of the ACA enhanced premium tax credit. Honestly, Margaret, it was Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer who rejected the bipartisan agreement. They wanted to go for a clean extension of three years without reforms. The fact is, since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, health insurance premiums have increased 150%, while insurance company profits have increased over 2,000%. We need to fix the system.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REP. LAWLER: I am very committed to addressing health care costs in this country. It’s the biggest driver of cost for most Americans, and we need bipartisan solutions to actually deal with it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The OBBB, the Big Beautiful Bill, was projected to increase the uninsured population in your state by about 860,000 people by 2034, so the tax bill also hurt that case. But let me ask you about something else –
REP. LAWLER: Well, respectfully, that’s just – that’s just not an accurate – that’s just not an accurate number. But in addition, New York spends 80% more on Medicaid than the average of the other 49 states. Even Kathy Hochul admits they have waste, fraud and abuse in the system with the CDPAP program, which went from $10 million to $11 billion in three years.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, this is the health research group KFF. Let me ask about something else. Elon Musk’s Political Action Committee has put forward hundreds of thousands of dollars to support you, and your opponent, Cait Conley, has criticized you for your ties to Elon Musk. She says you refuse to legislate on artificial intelligence or “superintelligence” to protect Elon Musk. How do you respond to those accusations?
REP. LAWLER: Well, first of all, Cait Conley is the AI candidate for the AI industry. She is the one who is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by two AI companies that she won’t even tell the voters what she did to earn these contracts –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, what does Elon Musk expect from that?
REP. LAWLER: — secondly, I’m leading on this — secondly, wait a minute. Well, first of all, it’s an external group, so I don’t have any communication with anyone who spends time in this race. Second, I am the one who leads on these issues with Josh Gottheimer, the Stop Rogue AI Act to set national standards with respect to these rogue agents and bots, and secondly to require mandatory testing of the border models. Third, Cait Conley violated federal election law by setting up a JFC with the House Super PAC, the House Democrat Super PAC, and she spends millions of dollars on campaign advertising. And finally, Margaret, in the last week a Democrat Super PAC appeared. They did not file with the FEC in clear violation of election law, spending millions of dollars to say I support amnesty for criminal illegal aliens. It’s a straight lie –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Who is behind this?
REP. LAWLER: –they’re trying to lower Republican turnout. These are Democrats who support this. They did this two years ago, and they are doing it again. American Forge Group. This is straight up voter fraud, like they do in Alaska.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REP. LAWLER: And frankly, the FBI and the Justice Department have informed us that they’re investigating —
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
REP. LAWLER: –and it should be investigated.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
REP. LAWLER: They’re violating election law, so people should be focused —
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REP. LAWLER: –very clear about what is actually happening in our elections.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, we asked the Conley campaign about it, and they told CBS that they had nothing to do with the mailers that were sent out. But we will also ask the Ministry of Justice. Thank you, Congressman Lawler.
REP. LAWLER: And they didn’t condemn it either. Yup. Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will watch your race, sir. Back in a moment.
